Gary Cahill has been a brave and 'great man' man this week, according to Chelsea team-mate Nemanja Matic.

It's been a trying seven days plus for the Blues defender involved in the incident that left Hull's Ryan Mason with a skull fracture and ‘lucky to be alive’ after their sickening clash of heads during the 2-0 win 12 days ago.

On his return to action, the England man put in a gutsy defensive performance and captained Chelsea to a satisfying 1-1 draw at Liverpool last night.

“Everyone knows that Gary is a great player but I have to say also that he is a great man,” Matic said after the Anfield draw.

“What happened was not easy for him, but this is football and he did a great job at Liverpool.

“As always, he is giving 100 per cent in every game and in every training session.

“I have that pleasure to train with him, he is one of the best people in our changing room.”

Moment of drama: Cahill (L) and Ryan Mason collide

Blues opened up a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League, and they could make Arsenal distant in the rear view mirror if they beat them at the Bridge on Saturday lunchtime.

The Serbian midfield general expressed his pleasure at Arsenal slipping to a 2-1 defeat at home to Watford last night.

“Of course we were delighted when we heard they lost,” he said.

“To be honest I didn’t expect that they would lose points at home.

Tussle: Jordan Henderson (L) against Gary Cahill

“This is the Premier League, everything is possible and you have to concentrate every game.

“It’s good for us when they lose points because with 15 games to go, we are into the second part of the season and every point is important.

“If we beat them we will be 12 clear, but we don’t look to the table, we are just focused on what the coach wants from us.”

The turning point of Antonio Conte’s reign has undoubtedly been the 3-0 humbling at the Emirates, in which he switched to a three man defence at half-time.

What looked like a temporary measure to stop the rot- with Blues three down at half-time- has turned out to be a masterstroke from the Italian and one of the main reasons they are in such a commanding position at the top.

While this defeat hurt the Chelsea squad, Matic believes it was the rude awakening they needed and has helped sparked their remarkable run of victories.

Praise: Nemanja Matic (L) tackles Liverpool's Roberto Firmino

“We lost that game 3-0 and when you lose a match 3-0 playing for this kind of club, it’s very hard to accept,” he said.

“I hoped it was going to be a wake-up call for us and it was.

“After that match we won 13 games in a row.

“Sometimes you have to lose a game to wake up and I’m sure we will not allow it any more to lose like this.

“You can lose a game but not in that way.

“The most important thing is how you react and in that game against Arsenal, we didn’t react on the pitch well.